The Earnest Expectations or Hopes of the Groaning Creation--Are not Proofs--The
Promises and the Outworking of Atonement, as Proofs--A Distinction and a Difference--Is
the Human Soul Immortal, or has it a Hope of Becoming Immortal?--Are Angels Immortal?-- Is
Satan Immortal?--The Life and Immortality Brought to Light Through the Gospel--The Greek
Words Rendered Immortal and Immortality in the Scriptures--Wherein the Hope of the Church
and the Hope for the Saved World Differ.

"If a man die shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait
till my change come." `Job 14:14`

"Our Savior Jesus Christ...hath abolished death and brought life [everlasting] and
immortality to light through the Gospel." `2 Tim. 1:10`

THERE is a longing hope within men that death does not end all existence. There is an
undefined hope that, somehow and somewhere, the life now begun will have a continuation.
In some this hope turns to fear. Realizing their unworthiness of a future of pleasure,
many fear a future of woe; and the more they dread it for themselves and others the more
they believe in it. This undefined hope of a future life and its counterpart, fear,
doubtless had their origin in the Lord's condemnation of the serpent after Adam's fall
into sin and death, that eventually the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's
head. This was no doubt understood to mean that at

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least a portion of the Adamic family would finally triumph over Satan, and over sin and
death, into which he had inveigled them. No doubt God encouraged such a hope, even though
but vaguely, speaking to and through Noah, and through Enoch who prophesied, "Behold
the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints." But the gospel (the good
tidings) of a salvation from death, to be offered to all mankind in God's due time, seems
to have been first clearly stated to Abraham. The Apostle declares: "The gospel
was preached before to Abraham--saying, 'In thy seed shall all the families of the earth
be blessed.'" This at least was the basis of the Jewish hope of a resurrection; for
since many of the families of the earth were dead and dying, the promised blessing of all implied
a future life. And when, centuries after, Israel was scattered among the nations at the
time of the Babylonian captivity, they undoubtedly carried fragments of God's promises and
their hopes everywhere they went. Sure it is, that whether it came as a result of an
admixture of Jewish thought, or because hope is an element of man's nature, or both, the
whole world believes in a future life, and almost all believe that it will be everlasting.
This the Apostle designates, "The earnest expectation of the creature"-- the
groaning creation. But such hopes are not proofs of the doctrine; and
the Old Testament promises, made to the Jews, are too vague to constitute a groundwork for
a clear faith, much less for a "dogmatic theology," on this subject. It is not
until we find, in the New Testament, the clear, positive statements of our Lord, and
afterwards the equally clear statements of the apostles on this momentous subject of Everlasting
Life that we begin to exchange vague hopes for positive convictions. In their words
we not only have positive statements to the effect that the possibilities of a future life
have been provided for all, but the philosophy of the fact and how it is to be attained
and maintained are set forth there as nowhere else. Many have not noticed these points,
and hence are ::page 385::

"weak in faith." Let us see what this philosophy is, and be more assured than
ever that future life, everlasting life, is by our great wise Creator's provision made a
possibility for every member of the human family. Beginning at the foundation of this New
Testament assurance of Life Everlasting, we find to our astonishment that it first of all
admonishes us that in and of ourselves we have nothing which would give us any hope of
everlasting life--that the life of our race was forfeited by the disobedience of our
father Adam; that although he was created perfect and was adapted to live forever, his sin
not only brought to him the wages of sin--death--but that his children were born in a
dying condition, inheritors of the dying influences. God's law, like himself, is perfect,
and so was his creature (Adam) before he sinned; for of God it is written, "His work
is perfect." And God through his law approves only that which is perfect, and
condemns to destruction everything imperfect. Hence the race of Adam, "born in sin
and shapen in iniquity," has no hope of everlasting life except upon the conditions
held out in the New Testament and called The Gospel--the good tidings, that a way
back from the fall, to perfection, to divine favor and everlasting life, has been opened
up through Christ and for all of Adam's family who will avail themselves of it. The
key-note of this hope of reconciliation to God, and thus to a fresh hope of life
everlasting, is found in the statements (1) that "Christ died for our sins" and
(2) that he "rose again for our justification"; for "the man Christ Jesus
gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price] for all." Adam and his race,
which when he sinned was yet in him and shared his sentence naturally, have been "redeemed
[bought] by the precious blood [death] of Christ." `1 Pet. 1:19` But although the
Lord's provision is abundant for all, it is not applicable to any except
on certain conditions; namely, (1) that they accept Christ as their Redeemer; and (2) that
they strive to avoid sin and to thenceforth live in harmony with God and righteousness.
Hence we are told that "Eternal

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Life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (`Rom. 6:23`) The
following Scriptural statements are very clear on this subject: "He that hath the Son
hath life [a right or privilege or grant of life as God's gift]; but he that hath not the
Son shall not see [perfect] life." `John 3:36`; `1 John 5:12` None can obtain
everlasting life except from Christ the Redeemer and appointed Life-giver; and
the truth which brings to us the privilege of manifesting faith and obedience, and thus
"laying hold on eternal life," is called the "water of life"
and the "bread of life." `John 4:14; 6:40,54` This everlasting life will be
granted only to those who, when they learn of it and the terms upon which it will be
granted as a gift, seek for it, by living according to the spirit of holiness. They shall reap
it as a gift-reward. `Rom. 6:23`; `Gal. 6:8` To gain this everlasting life we must become
the Lord's "sheep" and follow the voice, the instructions, of the Shepherd.
`John 10:26-28; 17:2,3` The gift of everlasting life will not be forced upon any. On the
contrary, it must be desired and sought and laid hold upon by all who would gain it. `1
Tim. 6:12,19` It is thus a hope, rather than the real life, that God gives us
now: the hope that we may ultimately attain it, because God has provided a way by which he
can be just and yet be the justifier of all truly believing in and accepting Christ. By
God's grace our Lord Jesus not only bought us by the sacrifice of his life for ours, but
he became our great High Priest, and as such he is now the "author [source] of
eternal salvation to all that obey him." (`Heb. 5:9`) "And this is the
promise which he hath promised us, even eternal life." `1 John 2:25`
"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life [now by faith and
hope, and by and by actually, 'when he who is our life shall appear'], and this life is in
his Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life." `1 John 5:11,12`

::page 387::

This everlasting life, made possible to Adam and all his race by our Creator through
our Redeemer, but intended for, and promised to, only the faithful and obedient, and which
at present is given to these only as a hope, will be actually given to
the faithful in the "resurrection." It will be noticed that the explicit
promises of God's Word differ widely from the worldly philosophies on this subject. They
claim that man must have a future everlasting life because he hopes for it, or in
most cases fears it. But hopes and fears are not reasonable grounds for belief on any
subject. Neither is there basis for the claim that there is something in man
which must live on and on forever--no such part of the human organism is known, or can be
proved or located. But the Scriptural view of the subject is open to no such objections:
it is thoroughly reasonable to consider our existence, soul, being, as therein
presented--as a "gift of God," and not an inalienable possession of our own.
Furthermore, it avoids a great and serious difficulty to which the idea of the heathen
philosophies is open; for when the heathen philosopher states that man cannot perish, that
he must live forever, that eternal life is not a gift of God, as the
Bible declares, but a natural quality possessed by every man, he claims too much. Such a
philosophy not only gives everlasting existence to those who would use it well and to whom
it would be a blessing, but to others also who would not use it well and to whom it would
be a curse. The Scriptural teaching, on the contrary, as we have already shown, declares
that this great and inestimably precious gift (Life-Everlasting) will be bestowed
upon those only who believe and obey the Redeemer and Life-giver. Others, to whom it would
be an injury, not only do not possess it now, but can never get it. "The wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (`Rom.
6:23`) The wicked (all who, after coming to a clear knowledge of the truth, still wilfully
disobey it) shall be cut off from among God's people in the Second Death. They "shall
be as

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though they had not been." "They shall utterly perish."
"Everlasting destruction" shall be their doom--a destruction which will last
forever, from which there will be no recovery, no resurrection. They will suffer the loss
of everlasting life, and all of its privileges, joys and blessings-- the loss of
all that the faithful will gain. `Acts 3:23`; `Psa. 37:9,20`; `Job 10:19`; `2
Thess. 1:9` God's gift of life eternal is precious to all his people, and a firm grasp of
it by the hand of faith is quite essential to a well-balanced and consistent life. Only
those who have thus "laid hold on eternal life," by an acceptance of Christ and
consecration to his service, are able to properly and profitably combat the tempests of
life now raging.

A Distinction and a Difference

But now, having examined the hope of immortality from the ordinary understanding of
that word (everlasting life), and having found that everlasting life is God's provision
for all those of Adam's race who will accept it in "due time" under the terms of
the New Covenant, we are prepared to go a step further and to note that everlasting life
and immortality are not synonymous terms, as people in general suppose. The word
"immortal" means more than power to live everlastingly; and, according to the
Scriptures, millions may ultimately enjoy everlasting life, but only a very
limited "little flock" will be made immortal. Immortality is an element
or quality of the divine nature, but not of human or angelic or any other nature than the
divine. And it is because Christ and his "little flock," his "bride,"
are to be "partakers of the divine nature" that they will be exceptions
to all other creatures either in heaven or on earth. `2 Pet. 1:4`

Is the Human Soul Immortal, or Has It a Hope of Becoming Immortal?

We have seen that a human soul (sentient being) results

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from a union of breath of life (ruach--pneuma) with a human organism or body;
exactly the same as in the cases of lower animal souls (sentient beings) except as man is
endowed with a higher organism, a superior body possessed of superior powers and
qualities. Our present inquiry then is, Are all animals immortal? And if this be answered
negatively, we must inquire, What does man possess above the lower animals which gives
hope for his immortality? Solomon's declaration as well as our own observations attest
that man like the lower animals is subject to death-- "As the one dieth so dieth the
other. Yea, they have all one [kind of] breath [spirit of life--ruach]."
(`Eccl. 3:19`) On every hand the crape, the casket, the hearse, the cemetery, all testify
that man does die and hence that he is not immortal, for the word
"immortal" signifies death-proof, that which cannotdie.
Whatever man's hope of immortality, it is not a present possession and can at
very most be a hope in some divine provision, future. Before probing this
question further it will be profitable for us to consider the meaning of the words
"mortal" and "immortal," for a gross misunderstanding of the
significance of these words is very prevalent and often leads to confusion of thought. The
word Immortal signifies not mortal--death-proof, incorruptible,
indestructible, imperishable. Any being whose existence is dependent in any manner upon
another, or upon conditions such as food, light, air, etc., is not immortal. This quality
originally inhered in Jehovah God alone, as it is written--"The Father hath life in
himself" (`John 5:26`); i.e., his existence is not a derived one, nor a
sustained one. He is the King eternal, immortal, invisible. (`1 Tim. 1:17`) These
scriptures being decisive authority on the subject, we may know beyond peradventure that
men, angels, archangels, or even the Son of God, before and during the time he "was
made flesh and dwelt among us"--were not immortal--all were mortal. ::page 390::

But the word "mortal" does not signify dying, but merely die-able--possessing
life dependent upon God for its continuance. For instance, angels not being immortal are
mortal and could die, could be destroyed by God if they became rebels against his wise,
just and loving government. In him (in his providence) they live and move and have their
being. Indeed, of Satan, who was such an angel of light, and who did become a rebel, it is
distinctly declared that in due time he will be destroyed. (`Heb. 2:14`) This not only
proves that Satan is mortal, but it proves that angelic nature is a mortal
nature--one which could be destroyed by its Creator. As for man, he is a "little
lower than the angels" (`Psa. 8:5`), and consequently mortal also, as is
abundantly attested by the fact that our race has been dying for six thousand years and
that even the saints in Christ are exhorted to seek immortality. `Rom. 2:7` The
common definition of mortal is dying, and of immortal everlasting--both
wrong. To demonstrate the falsity of these general definitions let us propound a simple
question--

Was Adam Created Mortal or Immortal?

If the answer be--"Adam was created immortal," we respond, How then
was he threatened with, and afterward sentenced to, death: and how could he die if he were
death-proof? And why did God in punishing him drive him out of the Garden of Eden away
from the life-sustaining grove or trees of life, lest he by eating live forever?
`Gen. 3:22` If the answer be that man was created mortal (according to the
erroneous common definition, dying) we inquire, How could God sentence man to
death after his disobedience if he were already a dying creature and never had
been otherwise? And if Adam was created dying how could God declare that his
death came by his sin?

::page 391::

Confusion is unavoidable unless the true definitions of mortal and immortal be clearly
recognized as follows: Immortal--the state or condition in which death is
impossible-- a death-proof condition. Mortal--a state or condition in which death
is possible--a condition of liability to death, but not necessarily a dying condition
unless a death sentence has been incurred. From this standpoint we can see at a glance
that Adam was created mortal--in a condition in which death was a possibility or
everlasting life a possibility; according as he pleased or displeased his wise, just, and
loving Creator. Had he remained obedient he would have continued living until now--and
forever--and yet all the while he would have been mortal, liable to death if
disobedient. Nor would such a condition be one of uncertainty; for God with whom he had to
do is unchangeable: hence Adam would have had full assurance of everlasting life
so long as he continued loyal and obedient to his Creator. And more than this could not
reasonably be asked. Adam's life condition previous to his disobedience was similar to
that now enjoyed by the holy angels: he had life in full measure--lasting life--which he
might have retained forever by remaining obedient to God. But because he was not death-proof,
because he did not have "life in himself" but was dependent for continuance upon
conditions subject to his Creator's pleasure, therefore God's threat that if he disobeyed
he should die, meant something. It meant the loss of the spark of life, "the breath
of life," without which the body would moulder into dust and the living soul
or sentient being would cease. Had Adam been immortal, undieable,
death-proof, God's sentence would have been an empty threat. But because Adam was mortal,
die-able, liable to death except as sustained by his Creator's provisions,
therefore, as declared, he died "in the day" of his disobedience. See `2 Pet.
3:8`.

::page 392::

To those who think that the Bible abounds with such expressions as immortal soul,
undying soul, never-dying soul, etc., we can offer no better advice than that they
take a Bible concordance and look for these words and others of similar import. They will
find none; and thus the sincere truth-seekers will most quickly convince themselves that
Christian people in general have for centuries, in thought at least, been adding to
the Word of God, much to their own confusion. According to the Scriptures the angels are
enjoying life-everlasting but are mortal: that is to say, the everlastingness of
their angelic existence is not because they are immortal or death-proof and so could not
be destroyed by their Creator; but because he desires that they shall live so long as they
will use their lives in accord with his just and loving arrangement. This is easy of
demonstration; for was not Satan one of the holy angels before he by pride and ambition
sinned? And did he not thus become one of the wicked (willingly, intentionally opposing
God) of whom it is written, "All the wicked will God destroy"--"who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction"? (`Psa. 145:20`; `2 Thess. 1:9`) Note
the explicit declaration respecting Satan's destruction, applicable in principle to all
who follow his evil way and reject divine arrangements knowingly, intentionally. `Heb.
2:14` While the Scriptures do speak of the mortality of man, and indeed in nearly all
particulars confine themselves to man's relationship to God, yet they no less positively
teach in another way the mortality of angels, by declaring that Christ "only hath
immortality" (`1 Tim. 6:16`)--the Father as always being excepted. (`1 Cor. 15:27`)
And as we have already seen, our Lord Jesus received immortality (which is an
element or quality of "divine nature," only) at his resurrection, and as a
reward for his faithful obedience to the Father's will to the extent of
self-sacrifice--"unto death, even the death of the cross--wherefore him hath God highly

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exalted." Although always superior to all others as "the only
Begotten," this exaltation raised him, as the Apostle declares, far
above angels and principalities and powers and every name that is named in heaven and
in earth. `Eph. 1:21` Thus it appears clear, from God's own revelation on the subject,
that only himself and his Only Begotten Son possessed this quality of immortality at the
time the apostles wrote their epistles. Indeed, had the Only Begotten been immortal
sooner than at the time of his exaltation he could not have been the Savior of the
world--because he could not havedied; and under divine arrangement to
be our Redeemer he must die: the record is, "Christ died for our sins" and was
exalted to immortality afterward. Hopes of a future everlasting life are held out vaguely
in the Old Testament; but immortality is not so much as mentioned. Indeed, the inspired
Apostle declares of our Lord Jesus, that he "abolished death [broke its hold on man]
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (`2
Tim. 1:10`) This shows two things: (1) That life in perfection, lasting life, is
separate and distinct from immortality, indestructibility. (2) It shows that
neither of these great blessings had been disclosed or made accessible previous to the
gospel--the "great salvation which began to be preached by our Lord."
`Heb. 2:3` And what did our Lord's gospel bring to "light" respecting these two
great blessings--life and immortality? (a) It shows that by divine grace our Lord
purchased the whole world of Adam's posterity and thus secured for each and every member
of the race an opportunity to return from death to life--in
other words it declares coming "times of restitution of all things which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began." Restitution
in its highest and ultimate sense will be the bringing of the restored ones not only out
of the tomb, but out of the various degrees of death (represented in sickness and
imperfection)

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up to life--lasting life as Adam enjoyed it before his disobedience. The
gospel of Christ assures us that a full opportunity to attain this life blessing
shall be granted to all under the reasonable terms of the New Covenant--"in due
time." `1 Tim. 2:6` (b) The "light" of Christ's gospel shows a special
provision in the divine plan for a special calling, testing and preparing of a small
number of his creatures to more than a moral and rational likeness to himself--an
invitation so to conform themselves to the Father's will and so to prove their loyal
obedience to him, that he might make of them, "new creatures,"
"the express image of his person," and "partakers of the divine
nature"--a prominent constituent element of which is immortality. This our
Lord Jesus broached, brought to light, in his gospel of God's grace. With amazement we
inquire--To whom of God's holy ones--angels, cherubim or seraphim--is so high a call
extended? The reply of the gospel of Christ is that it is not extended to the angels at
all, but to the Son of Man and his "bride" to be chosen from among those whom he
redeemed with his own precious blood. Consider him, who, for the joy set before him,
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now in consequence set down at the right
hand (place of favor) of the throne of God. He was rich, but for our sakes he became poor.
Inasmuch as the man and race to be redeemed were human, it was needful that he become
human so as to give the ransom or corresponding price. He therefore humbled himself and
took the bondman's form; and after he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself even unto death-- even unto the most ignominious form of death--the death of the
cross. "Wherefore, God hath highly exalted him [to the promised divine nature, at his
resurrection], and given him a name that is above every name [Jehovah's name excepted-- `1
Cor. 15:27`]." `Heb. 12:3,2`; `2 Cor. 8:9`; `Phil. 2:8,9` ::page 395::

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." `Rev. 5:9-12` The opulence
of divine favor might well have stopped with the exaltation of this great and worthy One:
but no; God, the Father, has arranged that Christ Jesus, as the Captain, shall lead a
company of Sons of God to "glory, honor and immortality" (`Heb. 2:10`; `Rom.
2:7`), each of whom, however, must be a spiritual "copy" or likeness of the
"First Begotten." As a grand lesson of the divine sovereignty, and as a sublime
contradiction to all evolution theories, God elected to call to this place of honor (as
"the bride, the Lamb's wife and joint-heir"--`Rev. 21:2,9`; `Rom. 8:17`), not
angels and cherubs, but some from among the sinners redeemed by the precious blood of the
Lamb. God elected thenumber to be thus exalted (`Rev. 7:4`), and predestinated
what must be their characteristics if they would make their calling and election
sure to a place in that company to be so highly honored; and all the rest is left to
Christ, who worketh now as the Father worked hitherto. `John 5:17` The Gospel age, from
Pentecost to the setting up of the Kingdom at the second advent, is the time for the
selection of this elect Bride of Christ class, variously termed "the Church,"
"the body of Christ," the "royal priesthood," the "seed of
Abraham" (`Gal. 3:29`), etc.; and the continued permission of evil is for the purpose
of developing these "members of the body of Christ" and to furnish them the
opportunity of sacrificing their little and redeemed all, in the service of him
who bought them with his precious blood; and thus of developing in their hearts his
spiritual likeness, that when, at the end of the age, they are presented by their Lord and
Redeemer before the Father, God may see in them "the image of his Son." `Col.
1:22`; `Rom. 8:29` As the reward of "glory, honor and immortality," and all the
features of the divine nature, were not conferred upon the "First Begotten"
until he had finished his course by

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completing his sacrifice and obedience in death, so with the Church, his
"bride"--counted as one and treated collectively. Our Lord, the First Born and
Captain, "entered into his glory" at his resurrection: he there became partaker
of the divine nature fully, by being "born from the dead," "born of the
Spirit": he there was highly exalted to the throne and highest favor ("right
hand" of God); and so he has promised that his Church, his "bride," shall
in resurrection be changed, by divine power, from human nature to the glory, honor and
immortality of the divine nature. `Heb. 13:20`; `2 Pet. 1:4` And so it is written
respecting "the resurrection" of the Church: "It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption [immortality]: it is sown in dishonor; it is
raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural
[animal] body; it is raised a spiritual body." `1 Cor. 15:42-44,49` The conditions
imposed upon all who would make their calling and election sure to this favored position
are exacting, though nevertheless "a reasonable service"; and in offset
the faithful are promised the "glory, honor and immortality" of
"the divine nature"--that thus they shall share the Redeemer's high exaltation
"far above angels," if they share his ignominy by walking in his footsteps,
following his example in this present time while evil is permitted to triumph. Note well
the fact that every promise or suggestion of hope of immortality in the Lord's Word is to
this special elect Church. This is the inherent life referred to by our Lord,
saying--"As the Father hath life in himself [a life not requiring
sustenance--immortality] so hath he given unto the Son that he should have life
in himself [immortality]" and that he should give it unto whomsoever he
would--his bride, his Church--"members of his body." `John 5:26`; `Eph. 3:6` Two
Greek words are translated immortality: (1) Athanasia, which Strong
defines as "deathlessness." This

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word is found in the following scriptures only: "This mortal must put on immortality
[athanasia--deathlessness]"-- referring to the first resurrection shared in
only by the Church. `1 Cor. 15:53` "When this mortal shall have put on immortality
[athanasia-- deathlessness]"--referring to the same first resurrection of
the Church. `1 Cor. 15:54` "Who only hath immortality [athanasia--deathlessness]"--
referring to our Lord Jesus and excepting the Father from comparison, as always. `1 Tim.
6:16` (2) Aphtharsia and aphthartos (from the same root) are rendered immortality
twice and immortal once, but would more properly be rendered incorruption
and incorruptible, and are generally so rendered by lexicographers. All the
occurrences of these words in the Bible follow: "To those who seek for glory, honor
and immortality [aphtharsia-- incorruption]." `Rom. 2:7` "It
is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption [aphtharsia]."
`1 Cor. 15:42` "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption [aphtharsia]." `1 Cor. 15:50`
"This corruptible must put on incorruption [aphtharsia]." `1
Cor. 15:53` "When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption [aphtharsia]."
`1 Cor. 15:54` "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity
[aphtharsia--incorruptly]." `Eph. 6:24` "Jesus Christ who hath brought
life and immortality [aphtharsia--incorruption] to light through the
gospel." `2 Tim. 1:10` "In doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity
[aphtharsia--incorruption]." `Titus 2:7` "The glory of the uncorruptible
[aphthartos--incorruptible] God." `Rom. 1:23` "They do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible [aphthartos]." `1 Cor.
9:25`

::page 398::

"The dead [Church] shall be raised incorruptible [aphthartos]."
`1 Cor. 15:52` "The King eternal, immortal [aphthartos--incorruptible],
the only wise God." `1 Tim. 1:17` "An inheritance incorruptible [aphthartos],
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." `1 Pet. 1:4`
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible [aphthartos]."
`1 Pet. 1:23` "That which is not corruptible [aphthartos] even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." `1 Pet. 3:4` The thought in this word is--that
which cannot corrupt, cannot decay, cannot lose value: aphtharsia is thus in many
respects the equivalent of athanasia or deathlessness when applied to
sentient beings; for that which having life is death-proof, may truly be styled
incorruptible.

Mankind's Hope for Everlasting Life

The boldest and ablest scientists and evolutionists have attempted to show that man's
life was not a gift from the Creator. Theoretically they have brought man and all the
lower animals up, by evolution process, from a microscopic germ; yea, from protoplasm,
which Prof. Huxley called "the physical basis of life"; and they fain would in
some way ignore the Creator and Life-giver entirely: but, as a matter of fact, they have
been unable to suggest any way that even protoplasm could get life from inert matter. To
this extent, therefore, they are obliged to recognize a first great cause of life. But the
reverent Bible student should not have the slightest difficulty in accepting the statement
of the Scriptures that God himself alone is the First Great Cause, the fountain of life,
from whom has proceeded all life on every plane; as says the Apostle, All things are of
the Father, and all things are by the Son, and we by him. (`1 Cor. 8:6`) The
Christian not only finds the evidences of a Creator

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in the book of Nature, but he finds in the Bible the express and particular revelation
of that Creator, and of that creation. He accepts as a fact the statement that God created
our first parents, and bestowed life upon them, and provided for their propagation of a
race of sentient beings, souls, of their own kind, just as he provided for a similar
process in the brute creation. Looking back to Eden we see Adam and Eve in their
perfection, possessed of moral and intellectual powers, in the likeness of their Creator,
and therefore far superior to their subjects, the brute creation--souls of a higher order,
the result of a higher and finer organism; and we inquire, What was the purpose of God
respecting man in his creation? We see that so far as the brute creation is concerned, the
Lord's evident design was that they should live a few years and then die, giving place to
others of the species; and that thus they should minister as servants to the pleasure and
convenience of man, their master, who in his perfection was a gracious master. But how
about man? Was man born to die like the beasts? We have just seen that he had no undying
quality bestowed upon him, but we find abundant testimony of God's provision for the everlasting
life of all who attain to approved conditions: that provision consisted not in the
bestowment of immortal powers and qualities, but in the good will and purpose of his
Creator, under which alone he "lives, moves and has his being." Occasionally a
shallow thinker will argue that man is immortal, indestructible, because science has
determined that "matter is indestructible." But, as already pointed
out, matter is not man, nor is the soul, or being, matter. The body is
matter, but to be the body of a man matter must have a special peculiar organization, and
then spirit of life must be added before it becomes man or soul. No one will argue that an
organism is indestructible, and hence any one of reasoning ability can see that
the being or soul based upon and dependent on organism can be destroyed.
Besides, this absurd reasoning or rather failure to reason would be forced by ::page 400::

analogy to claim that all insects and creeping things have immortality, are
indestructible. There is an immense difference between destroying inert matter and
destroying being. God declared to our father Adam, according to the record, that his life
was secure, and would be continuous so long as he continued an obedient son of God; that
only disobedience would expose him (the being, the soul) to death. The same
Scriptures tell us of the disobedience of our first parents, and of the divine
pronouncement of the sentence of death, as the penalty for sin. And we should notice
carefully the language of our Lord, in respect to this sentence. God did not address his
language to the senseless body, before it had been vitalized; neither did God address
himself to the breath or spirit of life, which is an unintelligent vitalizing power
merely. He addressed Adam, the soul, the intelligent or sentient being,
after he had been fully created. And we all agree that this was the reasonable and only
proper course--that the soul or being alone should be addressed. Now mark the Lord's
words: "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
die." When Adam transgressed the divine law and came under the sentence thereof, that
his soul should die, the Lord might have executed his penalty in an instantaneous death;
but instead he merely withdrew his special provision for his continuance of life, and thus
let Adam die gradually. The conditions of life are explained to us as having been a
special grove of life-giving trees, by the eating of which man's life would have
continued, making good daily its wastes, and suffering no decay. As soon as man became a
transgressor, he was restrained from access to these trees of life, or orchard of life,
and thus, like the lower animals of his dominion, became subject to death. In man's case,
however, death is said to be a "curse," because it came as a result of
the violation of the divine regulations, and incidentally, through the curse upon earth's
king, a curse rests upon his dominion and upon all his subjects, the lower animals; for

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the king having lost his perfection, the entire dominion fell into disorder. Moreover,
the children of Adam could not obtain from him, as their progenitor, rights or privileges
or physical perfections, which he had forfeited and was losing; hence, as the Scriptures
show, the entire race of Adam fell with him under the curse--into death, and hence, as
creatures in the image of God, possessed of powers of intelligence appreciative of
everlasting life, we look up to God to see whether or not infinite wisdom, infinite love,
infinite justice and infinite power can unitedly produce a plan of salvation for man,
under which God can be just, and yet be the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
`Rom. 3:26` Nor is the hope a vain one. God's provision, through Christ, as revealed in
the Scriptures, is for a resurrection of the dead, a restitution of man to his former
estate. True, there are limitations and conditions, and not all shall return to the divine
favor, but an opportunity to return shall be granted to all, with the strong probability,
we believe, that a majority of Adam's posterity shall, when they know the truth,
gratefully accept of God's grace through Christ, and conform their lives to the law of the
New Covenant, through faith in the Redeemer. It is not, however, for us or anyone to
answer the query which our Lord refused to answer, viz., "Are there few that be
saved?" (`Luke 13:23`) The most we are privileged to do is to point out that "a
ransom for all" has been given by our Lord and the promise that in "due
time" all shall come to a knowledge of this great truth and to opportunity to attain
everlasting life from him, the great Light who shall yet "lighten every man that
cometh into the world." (`1 Tim. 2:4-6`; `John 1:9`) We should and do repeat during
this age to all who have "ears to hear" the Master's words: "Strive to
enter in at the straight gate: for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able, when
once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door." (`Luke 13:24,25`) In
other words the call, the only call of this Gospel age, is to the narrow

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way of self-sacrifice: and no distraction of interest should slack our running for the
great prize of immortality now offered. When the number of the "elect" is filled
full and the great tribulation of the end of this age gives notice that the Church is
completed and glorified, there will be many to take a different view of the worldly
trifles which now hinder their fulfilment of their consecration pledges. God's plan of
salvation for the general race of Adam is to extend to each member of it, during the
Millennium, the offer of eternal life upon the terms of the New Covenant
sealed for all with the precious blood of the Lamb. But there is no suggestion anywhere
that immortality, the Divine Nature, will ever be offered or granted to any except the
"elect" Church of the Gospel age--the "little flock," "the Bride,
the Lamb's wife." For the others of Adam's race the offer will be
"restitution" (`Acts 3:19-21`) to life and health and perfection of human
nature--the same that Adam possessed as the earthly image of God before his fall from
grace into sin and death. And when at the close of the Millennial age all the obedient of
mankind shall have attained all that was lost in Adam and redeemed by Christ--then
all, armed with complete knowledge and experience, and hence fully able to stand the test,
will be tested severely (as was Adam), but individually (`Rev. 20:7-10`), and only those
found in fullest heart-sympathy, as well as in outward harmony, with God and his righteous
arrangements, will be permitted to go beyond the Millennium into the everlasting future or
"world [age] without end." All others will be destroyed in the Second
Death--"destroyed from among the people." `Acts 3:23` But although there shall
be no more death, neither sighing nor crying, it will not be because the victors of the
Millennial age will be crowned with immortality, but because, having learned to judge
between right and wrong and their effects, they shall have formed characters in full
accord with God and righteousness; and because they will have stood tests which will
demonstrate that they would not wish to sin if the way were opened and no penalties
attached.

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They will not have life in themselves, but will still be dependent upon God's provision
of food, etc., for the sustenance of life. Compare `Rev. 21:4,6,8; 7:16`; `Matt. 5:6`. As
the curse brought the death of mankind, so the removal of the curse means the removal of
all legal objections to man's return to all the original blessings bestowed upon him in
Eden. But man, now degraded and imperfect mentally, morally and physically, is not fit, as
Adam was, to enjoy the perfections of an Eden or Paradise condition; hence the divine
purpose is that in the "restitution times," during the Millennial age, mankind,
whose sins have been atoned for by the death of the Lord Jesus, may be brought back by
him, the Life-Giver and Deliverer, from the bondage of sin and death, to all the fulness
of the perfection of the original likeness of God. Not only so, but the divine plan we
find is that man's experience with sin shall constitute a lesson which will have an
everlasting influence upon some, giving them to know, by personal experience, something of
the "exceeding sinfulness of sin," and of its sure reward or penalty, death: so
that when, during the Millennial age, these shall be brought to a knowledge of
righteousness, truth, goodness, love, and all the graces and qualities of divine
character, the willing and obedient shall know and appreciate the privilege of eternal
life in a way that Father Adam never would have known it, and never could have appreciated
it. To this end the dying has been a gradual process with the race in general,
and to the same end the resurrection is to be a gradual process: inch by inch, as it were,
mankind will be raised up, up, up out of the mire of sin, out of the terrible pit of
degradation and death, to the grand height of perfection and life from which he fell in
the person of father Adam. The only exception to this general program for the world, as
presented to us in the Scriptures, being the few brought into harmony with God in advance,
the seed of Abraham, natural and spiritual. `Gal. 3:29`; `Heb. 11:39,40` Seen in this, the
Scriptural light, the subject of immortality shines resplendently. It leaves the way clear
for the general

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"gift of God, eternal life," to be extended to all whom the Redeemer shall
find willing to accept it upon the only terms upon which it could be a blessing; and it
leaves the unworthy subject to the just penalty always enunciated by the great judge of
all, viz.: "The wages of sin is death." `Rom. 6:23` "The soul
that sinneth it shall die." `Ezek. 18:4,20` "He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God [the curse, death] abideth on
him." `John 3:36` Thus we find, on this subject as on others, that the philosophy of
the Word of God is deeper as well as clearer, and more rational by far, than the heathen
systems and theories. Praise God for his Word of Truth and for hearts disposed to accept
it as the revelation of the wisdom and power of God! But does doubt cry out, How could God
in resurrection reproduce the millions of earth completely so that each will know himself
and profit by the memory of present life experiences? We answer that in the phonograph
cylinder even man is able to preserve his own words and reproduce them; much more is our
Creator able to reproduce for the entire race such brain organisms as will perfectly
reproduce every sentiment, thought and experience. David seems to refer to the power of
God in a manner that might be applicable either prophetically to the resurrection or
reflectively to the first birth. He says: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. My substance [organism] was not hid from thee when I was made in secret,
curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance being
yet imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance
[gradually] were fashioned when as yet there was none of them." `Psa. 139:14-16`